engage (part 2)

Acts 2:44-47 – The Message

And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met. They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.

Spending time together, enjoying a meal with friends, praying together, making sure that those without are taken care of, praising God, and enjoying being around other believers.

These seem to be heartbeat of the early church. Community seems to be determined in different ways. By some as a group that lives highly communal lives, welcomes the stranger, serves with generosity, creates in community, studies scripture holistically, practices accountability and lives selflessly.

Right now we at Compass are wresting with this question…

What are the most important elements for community groups, small groups, life groups or whatever term you have deemed them?

I’d love to get input from all of you. What do you believe to of utmost importance and how do you plan on incorporating into the DNA of your groups?

I’d love for you to post and share your thoughts with all.

 

engage (part 1)

One of the biggest challenges to me seems to be connecting people from all walks of life to each other.  To find a place where people can truly connect and journey with others in true community.  Yet it seems that many are leaving the church as quickly as they come in.  

I began to wonder if churches everywhere struggle with this issue or if this is something unique to our church.  I was a little surprised and discouraged to find out that the vast majority of churches everywhere seem to struggle in this very area.  Even in a recently conversation with a friend of mine at a large, well known church, he said this may be one of the biggest challenges at their church as well.  

So what now?  Something has to change.  How do we begin to truly connect people to each other?  How can we develop the kind of true community you see in the early church?  How can we engage those walking in the door, helping them learn more about a better way to live?

If you’ve talked to anyone who seems to be doing this well, read a book or article on this topic (that didn’t suck), heard a great teaching on this let me know.  I would love to read or listen to whatever it might be.  I’m willing to fly and meet with this person in an effort to help people connect on a deeper level with others.  I would love to pass this on to the many others who long to create this environment in their community as well. 

 

buffet

I recently came across this story that I thought I would pass on.  I usually hate forwards but this one made me question what I’m doing this very day. 

A man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said.

“Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.

The Lord led the man to two doors.

He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made his mouth water.  The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful.

But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

The man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.

The Lord said, “You have seen Hell.

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew, which made the his mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The man said, “I don’t understand.

It is simple,” said the Lord.

“It requires but one skill. You see they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.”

I believe that as followers of Christ we often carry this mentality of consumerism.  We want people to come to our church and offer the most we possibly can, like a buffet.   People come in, often complain because their unsatisfied because their needs aren’t met.  Others become so obese with the knowledge they have from being in church their whole life and they don’t do anything with it.  So often it can become so easy to focused on what is going on inside our own little world that we forget about those around us that are literally dying. 

My question would be this… What are we doing to make sure people outside the church are being taken care of?  

 

worship…

One of my earliest memories as a kid is singing a song about the peace, joy and love of God while doing all kinds of actions along with the song. We would clap our hands, stomp our feet, lift our hands, spin around and worship will all we had. There was this sense that we were truly giving God everything we had and it was a beautiful thing.

The summer I was going into Junior High I went to visit a friend’s church. When we arrived some of the older students invited us to hang out with them. Then the Wednesday night worship service began. At one point while singing one of my favorite songs I began to raise my hands. For some reason I opened my eyes. I had that feeling you get when a group of people are staring at your because of something you’ve done. So I looked over to see a couple of students smirk at what I was doing. That day everything changed. Worship would no longer be the same.

Every year at camp or CIY I worshiped like I had as a child, but that would quickly change when we came home. Worship became so much more about what others thought about me than what God was trying to teach me. The words we sang, though often incredibly powerful, meant little since the “cool factor” had began to mean more than connecting with God.

Year after year I prayed this would change, that I would grow up and outgrow this mentality, that I could get back to those days where I was no longer concerned about what others thought.

Over the past years worship has become more and more about Him and less about me. I’ve come to realize that I can no longer care what others think. However there is still this side of me that can’t help but wonder what others around me think. That is, until I met ‘Joe’.

We met a few weeks ago while visiting the inner city. I soon found out that ‘Joe’ sits a couple rows from me at church. My first week there I honestly didn’t know what to think. He sings with all he has, not worrying if he’s on key. He raises his hands and closes his eyes as if he’s the only one, even though there are 700+ people in the room. And it reminds me of what it was like to worship as a child.

So last week I did just that, at all 4 services. At each service, I found a different place to worship. At first there was a side of me that was worried about what others think, until I closed my eyes, closing out everything around me. I began to worship unlike I had in a long time. That childlike feeling returned. That sense that I was truly singing this song to Him, giving all I had. And it was awesome!

May we get back to that place where we worship like a child. Arriving at that place where we deeply desire to connect with Him more than anything else. And while we worship may we pray that those around us who feel uncomfortable, feel free to worship the God who made them. If they want to clap or raise their hands may they feel free to do so. That all may come to the point where they are willing to worship Him with all they have.

 

blur…

We have all seen one of these time lapse videos? A shot of city traffic, people walking downtown, a sunset, and the list goes one. Everything is moving so fast making it hard to make out many of the details. It is all somewhat of a blur.

Life can feel like this at times. We are so busy with our next meeting, event, and service that it all runs together. Sometimes the only time we notice other people is when they are in our way, and we have to work around them, because we are going full speed all the time.

One of the reasons I love ESPN is because you can catch up on all that takes place in the world of sports in one hour. The top 10 plays, who they traded, who signed where, someone else is using steroids and some guy is getting a signing bonus paying him more than most will make in their lifetime. I can get all of this info in minutes. Wouldn’t it be nice if life could be that easy?

Over the few weeks, I felt like I’ve been somewhat disconnected from the flow of life. I feel like I’m going and going without taking the time to slow down. Why is it that we are afraid to stop? Is it because we feel like we might miss out on something?

When was the last time you took a step back and tried finding some clarity in your life? Taking a little time for those things that really matter. Your life starts coming into focus. It makes me want to be like Him. I want to love the way He loves. It inspires me to be there for other people who trip and fall. It makes me want to remind people of Him by the way I carry myself. I want to be as much like Him as I can.

Hopefully after such an encounter, I will start to act a little more like Him. To renew that within me, I needed to stop for just a second, to see that there are things going on behind all the chaos and all of the hurriedness of this world. I needed to focus. I need to remain focused. I need Him.

At times you have to STOP, so that things can come into focus.

 

goodbye…

For some reason, the line from the all-inspiring movie Dumb & Dumber, keeps coming to mind - “I hate goodbyes.”

Moving to Katy, Texas nine years ago, I had no idea what I was doing, and to be honest, I was somewhat terrified. We were leaving friends, family, and all we knew, to go to the unknown. Traveling over 500 miles to meet with a handful of students in a dark room, in the upstairs part of the church. During these years, God has done some truly amazing things. The community at Grace has been a blessing to us, and we thank you for that. I don’t know if this is as much a good-bye as, “We’ll see ya again.” We leave to head in a new direction, beginning a new adventure we feel He has called us to be a part of. Thank you to all who have been such an huge part of this journey, and we truly look forward to the plans & years ahead He has in store for each and every one of us.

Until we see you again!  

 

questions…

In the last few months, we’ve been wrestling with some very thought provoking questions that have helped me, so I thought I’d pass them on. Here they are…

What is the toughest choice you currently need to make in your ministry?  You will be miserable until you do it, keeping your ministry from growing and developing into this vision you feel like He has given you.    

Am I being who God made me to be, or am I trying to be _____(fill in the blank)_____? There is already a Rob Bell, a Erwin McManus, a Francis Chan, a Louie Giglio, and the list goes on of people we admire.  We aren’t them, so why would we want to sell Him short on what He has in mind for us?  

What do you feel like you are truly the best at, and how much of your energy do you use to focus on that area?  You are either doing a great job in that area, or you have a lot of areas that are probably doing alright.

What are the biggest risks you’ve recently taken?  If you constantly succeeded and haven’t failed recently, then the risks must have not been that great.

Are you willing to endure pain to help your ministry continue to grow?  Because if you don’t do something about it, it will become stagnant and increasingly frustrating to you.

If you can wrestle through these questions your ministry will forever change.

 

 

powerless…

This Tuesday I was in Dallas for a few meetings and to spend time with a friend of mine.  I had heard so much about the ministry to the homeless that was taking place in downtown Dallas, and I couldn’t wait to go check it out.  I had heard stories of people like Gunny & Kyle who I was looking forward to seeing, yet having no idea what to expect.  There was this sense of excitement, anticipation, anxiety, and fear.  The plan, simply talk to people there and pray for them.  Simple enough right?  

While there, I met Tommy.  He was in his early 40s, very disgruntled with “the system” and people in general.  He asked me 2-3 times what we were selling or if I had a smoke.  I told him I didn’t have either and we were simply there to pray with them and get to know them.  To which he replied, “You don’t care to know me, so why would I want you to pray for me.”  He has lived a tough life, kept saying he just couldn’t catch a break, and that no one truly cared.  So as we talked, and I learned more about him and where he had been.  He told us that we didn’t have a clue, and we were totally ignorant to what was truly going on down there.  I replied, “You are right, we really don’t have a clue,” and I asked him to forgive me.  He looked at me like I was on something.  

I thought to myself as he continued on, ‘I am ignorant to what you face every day, because we have a home to go home to, food to eat, a place to sleep, and essentially all we need to live.’  So as our conversation came to an end, I asked Tommy if he would pray for us.  He said that he wasn’t an ordained minister, so he didn’t feel like he could.  I told him that you don’t have to be ordained to pray.  To which he said, “Cool, let’s hold hands.”  He asked what he could pray for.  I asked that he pray we would be less ignorant, more understanding and more loving.  That we would love them, like Christ loves us.  That he would forgive us for pretending like we had it all together, but we really don’t.  So he did and it was amazing!  As he prayed, I fought back the tears, feeling powerless.  

Later that night before I fell asleep, I stayed up praying for Billy, Gunny, Tommy, and others.  I was truly overwhelmed, feeling so powerless, and not sure what to pray for.  Maybe it’s the prayer Tommy prayed.  

Lord, we are grateful for this one more beautiful day we have today.  We thank you Father, for these brothers of mine.  I pray that you bless them and help them, because so many are ignorant and need understanding.  Forgive all of us, for times we do wrong things we aren’t suppose to do. Father like you said, you came for the poor and the needy, so we thank you for that.  Help us not to forget that Father.  Please keep us and show us your love as we try to do the same.  Watch over us Lord, we pray.  Amen.

Powerless in many ways.  Yet full of a power that only comes from Him.  Maybe it starts with praying for them, or them praying for us.  Where it goes from here, is still to be seen.

 

waiting…

How often do we decide that we can wait a little longer to do something for someone else?  We say things like, “Well if they are here next time, I can do something then.”  It’s often a typical response, is it not?  The truth is, our first reaction and impulse is to help those in need anyway we can.  It should be.  Then, we decide to sit around and wait for the world to change on its own, instead of doing anything about it.  

We’ve all seen the pictures of people at the stop light, the street corner, under the bridge, holding the sign - homeless, without food, need work, and the list goes on.  We’ve see the guy sleeping under the bridge, the man in the wheelchair, the child begging for food, the family without anything, literally.

We’ve become good at rationalizing how others may eventually come to the rescue.  Believing the person behind us at the light may be the one to give the homeless man some kind of hope.  Wondering if the person sleeping under the bridge knows about the homeless shelter.  We’ve asked ourselves, “Where are that kid’s parents, and how could they do that to them?”  Making statements like, “Maybe they should move into a smaller house if they can’t afford the bills, and they wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.”  The attitude seems to be more of a judgmental one, than that of a passion to actually do something for those in need by any means possible.  But what if we were in the situation they are in?  Homeless, hungry, hurting, without.  How would that change the way we think?

Jesus at one point, starts talking about a time He was without food and clothes, hurting without a place to sleep.  Then when asked when that was, He simply said, “You’ve missed the point.  There are people right here in your midst that are in need and you are overlooking them.  By overlooking them, you’ve actually overlooked Me.  If you see anyone you come across that is without, help them by any means that you can!  In doing so, you are not only blessing them, but Me as well.”  

I guess if the day comes when people are no holding signs, sleeping under bridges, going without food, or simply being without, then we’ve done our job.  Until then, we need to do something to change the world by reaching out to the hungry, needy, the naked, and all those who are hurting.  And maybe by doing so for the least of these, we are truly blessing Christ.

So, do we sit back and watch to see if the world changes on its own, or actually help those in need in an effort to change the world?

 

 

voice…

What if one small voice echoed out for thousands of people to hear?  A voice of passion that would awaken the hearts of many, who have simply chosen to believe that things are as they are and will continue to be the way they’ve always been.  What if those who heard that voice actually chose to do something to make a difference?  What if that voice told others about what they were so incredible passionate about?  What if that individual was to join people across the world, with others who believed in this voice, causing a chain reaction in an effort to eradicate poverty?  What if that voice was yours?  If it is, how will you make sure that it’s heard by all?  

This last weekend, we had Remedy For This Heart & In Houston sharing the message of what could happen if you would simply choose to join, and become involved in this movement to wipe out poverty.  With 80+ at a battle of the bands & another 50+ on Sunday (most of which weren’t there at the battle) at the student service at Grace, no telling what will happen.  It only takes a handful of students willing to make a difference and joining the movement.  There is no telling what may happen if you would join!  

Thank again Trevor for your passion and willingness to share your voice & passion with others.  Also thanks to Outlet for playing & leading our students in worship Sunday morning.  

Peace